Last Thursday, Pakistan’s entertainment industry was rocked by Meesha Shafi’s allegations against Ali Zafar that he categorically denied in a Twitter post a few hours later. The scandal came to spark a national conversation about sexual misconduct and gave voice to others to come forward with their own stories and agendas that stemmed from the topic or the #MeToo campaign. While there were few who showed their support to Shafi, there were others in alliance with Ali and his claims. Meesha has gone on record saying that the incident that caused such a national uproar took place at Ali’s residence, late last December when they were jamming before a concert. A number of women have come forward voicing support for the Channo singer, saying that they were present when Ali and Meesha were jamming and they saw nothing out of the ordinary or unfamiliar. They confessed that the two maintained a very professional relationship in the presence of nine of Ali’s band members and his manager, Taha Sadaqat. Meesha’s manager, Farhan was also present along with the event organiser. Aqsa Ali, one of Ali’s band members, took to a post on her Instagram, saying, “As a musician and a woman I should talk about this issue as I was SHOCKED with this article of Meesha. She said that her conscious doesn’t allow her to stay quiet so mine also doesn’t allow me (to do the same).” She added that she has traveled with Zafar and seen girls “throw themselves” at him, but he has always made sure to be friendly and remain “gentlemanly” in his responses so as to not make anyone feel uncomfortable. So as the stories taking turn every minute regard Ali Zafar, MeeshaShafi &#metoo movement, I think as a musician and a woman I should talk about this issue as I was SHOCKED 😮 right now with this article of Meesha. She said that her conscious doesn’t allow her to say quiet so mine also doesn’t allow me. As I am the part of concert crew, I travel intl and locally with Ali Zafar, and I have seen girls throwing themselves at him and his gentlemanly response to that which is so rare of any rockstar. balkay we all travel like friends and we work in a very comfy environment. Today finally Meesha tells us what she says happened to her that Ali harassed her at a jam or did something wrong to her and I cannot stay quiet. I was at this jam session becoz I sing in Ali’s band and so was her manager and our entire band. I am astonished that she would take a lie to this level which so many of us can prove wrong. We all have pictures, we were there and event manager was there and it was a gr8 jam session. I am a woman and I would never allow wrong to any woman. But come on , it’s a serious matter and we should be really clear on everything rather then putting accusations on people and then saying sorry you cannot question any woman it’s wrong. Ali is a genuine person, who treats people around him nicely and has always been a support system for everyone; Accusing some1 is easy but living with the guilt is difficult. As a woman I felt sad with her rude behaviour towards everyone including the band but more I feel bad that she’s causing disrespect to this Intl movement of women and all of us female musicians and hard working women. A post shared by aqsaali.official (@imaqsa.ali) on Apr 21, 2018 at 5:21am PDT Aqsa further went on to claim, “Ali is a genuine person, who treats people around him nicely and has always been a support system for everyone; accusing someone is easy but living with the guilt is difficult. As a woman, I felt sad with her (Meesha’s) rude behaviour towards everyone including the band but more, I feel sad that she is causing disrespect to this international movement of women and all of female musicians and hardworking women.” I have been working with Ali Zafar on and off since the past 3 years or so and up until now I’ve been quietly observing the current situation because I am no judge of personal character be it Meesha Shafi or Ali Zafar. However, I stand witness to this particular ‘Jam’ late last year that Meesha mentions in her interview with The News. The whole house band along with myself and another fellow female vocalist were present during this session and whatever interaction took place between the two was in front of at least 10 other people. All I can say is that this particular statement that she makes here is rather odd. I have toured with the Ali Zafar band a lot of times and all my trips have been really pleasant and professional and we’ve spent hours jamming together. It would be great if this important movement isn’t taken for granted or misused for personal reasons stealing limelight from real causes. Rest, time will tell!! A post shared by Kanza Munir (@kanzamunir) on Apr 21, 2018 at 6:02am PDT Another band member of Ali’s band, Kanza Munir also came forward via Instagram in Ali’s defence, claiming that she has been working on and off with Ali for the past three years or so, and uptil now, she has been quietly observing the current situation while standing witness to the particular jam late last year that Meesha mentioned in her interview with The News. Kanza added that there were over 10 people present at the jamming session during “whatever” interaction that took place between the two, and all that she can say is that “this particular statement” that Meesha made is rather odd. She explained, “I have toured with the Ali Zafar band a lot of times, and all my trips have been really pleasant and professional, and we’ve spent hours jamming together. It would be great if this important movement isn’t taken for granted or misused for personal reasons, stealing the limelight from real causes.” Earlier, a Twitter user named Sofi accused Ali Zafar for misconduct during the Shaukat Khanum US tour, adding that the organisers were informed of the incident, but they still went ahead with the rest of the shows. However, Naila Khan who was a member of the organising committee tweeted, “It is a complete lie because the Washington DC event was the last one in the series. There was no event after that.” In an interview, Meesha had stated that she shared the stage with Ali only because it was about business, and she didn’t wish for reasons like these to affect work. However, it was also brought to notice that Ali and Meesha were hired to perform separately, but their duet performance was optional, and the latter is what they willingly opted for. Currently, Ali is preparing to sue Meesha for her accusations.